Taking It to The Streets

The hidden Rembrandt: Drawings from the Master oil painter get their due at MFAH

Lambert Doomer, Two Bactrian Camels in a River Landscape, c. 1672, brown ink andbrown and gray wash on antique laid paper, Maida and George Abrams Collection,Boston, Mass.
Photo by Katya Kallsen/© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Rembrandt van Rijn, Four Studies of Male Heads, c. 1636, brown ink and brownwash on antique laid paper, Maida and George Abrams Collection, Boston, Mass.
Photo by Allan Macintyre/© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Jacob Adriaensz Backer, 1608/9–1651, Seated Female Nude, 1648, black and whitechalk on blue paper, Maida and George Abrams Collection, Boston, Mass.
Photo by Allan Macintyre/© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Nicolaes Maes, Dutch, Man Seated in His Study, 1640s-'50s, brown ink and brownwash on cream antique laid paper, Maida and George Abrams Collection, Fogg ArtMuseum, Harvard University
Photo by Katya Kallsen/© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Woman Doing Handwork, c. 1670, brown ink and brownwash on cream antique laid paper, Maida and George Abrams Collection, HarvardUniversity, Cambridge, Mass.
Photo by Katya Kallsen/© President and Fellows of Harvard College

"When most people think of Rembrandt, they think of his oil paintings," prints and drawings curator Dena Woodall told CultureMap on a tour of an exhibition exploring the Dutch master's work on paper at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "His drawings and output as a printmaker, however, had a very long-reaching effect on artists and collectors well into the 19th and 20th century."

On view in the museum's Beck Building through July 8, Drawings by Rembrandt, His Students, and Circle showcases nearly 50 works — eight of which are by the artist himself — to examine the essential role of drawing in Rembrandt's studio and its influence on his followers.

"He had an amazing way of capturing those pivotal moments of expression and emotion. Other artists were very attracted to t his manner in which he approached and portrayed life."

"This show focuses on the artist drawing the world around him," Woodall said. "These works aren't thought of as preparatory drawings for larger paintings, but were used by Rembrandt and his circle to capture everyday life."

The first of two galleries in the exhibition looks to the human form, with examples of portraits and figure studies from Rembrandt's early career in Leiden, before he relocated his studio to Amsterdam and began accepting students. The artist and his pupils tended to look for subjects in the thriving, diverse neighborhoods of Amsterdam, which teemed with activity as one of Europe's most prosperous cities during the 17th century.

"He had an amazing way of capturing those pivotal moments of expression and emotion," Woodall said, motioning to a section of Biblical and historical scenes. "Other artists were very attracted to this manner in which he approached and portrayed life."

The second gallery concentrates on landscapes drawn en plein air beyond the studio walls and the confines of bustling Amsterdam. Rembrandt and his entourage render the vast openness of the flat Dutch terrain with pops of intricately-detailed cottages and people that subtly animate the scene.

Drawings by Rembrandt, His Students, and Circle is organized by the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Conn. and features works on paper by renowned Dutch Golden Age painters like Jacob Backer, Ferdinand Bol, Govaert Flinck, Samuel van Hoogstraten, Jan Lievens and Nicolaes Maes. The exhibit is accompanied by a full catalog published by Yale University Press.

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Oh, Brother

McConaughey and Harrelson comedy series 'Brothers' premieres this fall

Photo courtesy of Apple TV

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in Brothers on Apple TV.

Imaginary siblings and real life best friends Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are finally about to bring the joke home with a new Apple TV series, Brothers, out globally September 23.

The first two episodes will come out together, and one new episode will be added every Wednesday through November 4, a press release says. There will be eight episodes in total.

In a rumor that gets harder to search for the closer Brothers comes to fruition, McConaughey and Harrelson have leaned into ideas that they might be half-brothers, partially because of their longtime friendship and partially because they have a similar look that gets even stronger in old photos. The topic sprung up when Brothers was in its infancy as a project called Brother from Another Mother, and McConaughey's mom validated it by insinuating that she and Harrelson's father once had a fling.

In Brothers, a heartfelt comedy, McConaughey and Harrelson play fictionalized versions of themselves living out almost the same drama, with much more serious repercussions.

When Harrelson's family needs a place to get away after his daughter's wedding falls through, they travel to Austin to accept the hospitality of a friend, McConaughey. But when McConaughey's mother, Ma Mac (Holland Taylor) accidentally reveals that they might be half-brothers, Harrelson becomes obsessed with learning the truth. Simultaneously, McConaughey considers running for Governor of Texas. (Is this getting too real?)

Other members of the ensemble cast include Natalie Martinez, Brittany Ishibashi, Nolan Almeida, Ella Grace Helton, Noah Carganilla, Highdee Kuan, and Oona Yaffe.

Brothers is produced by Paramount Television Studios, and showrun and executive produced by Lee Eisenberg, best known for producing The Office. McConaughey and Harrelson are also both executive producers alongside Natalie Sandy, David West Read, Trish Hofmann, Bill Bost, Jason Winer, David Finkel and Brett Baer, and Jeremy Plager, the release says. Multiple episodes are directed by Trent O’Donnell, including the pilot.

Austinites were keyed into the production early when locals spotted McConaughey and Harrelson with a film crew on South Congress Avenue. Photographers also caught them in different costumes, this time on South Congress and West Riverside Drive, so it seems like recognizable places around town will be on display multiple times throughout the series.

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